LAST UPDATE | 11 Nov

SCHOOLS WERE EVACUATED and parents collected children early after threatening emails were sent to hundreds of schools today, prompting calls for an urgent protocol to help principals respond.

Schools in counties Cork, Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Meath were among those affected. Some evacuated pupils right away, while others contacted gardaí for advice before making any further decisions.

Other schools initially missed the message because it had landed in their spam folders.

A statement from the Department of Education issued shortly after the threatening emails stated that there was categorically no threat. Gardaí had assessed the threat as not credible, and said schools did not need to evacuate. 

It’s understood that only a fraction of schools that received the threat made the decision to evacuate. In most of those cases, the process was short-lived and students re-entered the building later in the morning.

However, schools have been reporting that many parents, spooked by the news, made the decision to pick up their children early anyway.

Paul Crone, director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, said clear guidance for schools on responding to such threats was “urgently required”.

“Schools need a protocol to follow,” Crone said.

They need to know what to do, how to do it, when to do it, who to contact, what to communicate with parents, what to communicate with students, what to communicate with staff, and that’s urgently required.

Crone said there was obvious worry among principals today. Some principals had decided to evacuate schools in the absence of clear guidance.

He described the situation as “absolute chaos”, as many parents panicked and rushed to schools to collect their children early.

“Every parent knows if you get a call saying your child is sick, how difficult that can be to organise a pickup, and maybe a neighbour or a grandparent might be available to pick a child up,” Crone said.

“But when you feel that there’s a potential safety risk like that, that’s going to cause panic in parents until they can get there. We read all the time of these serious events that happen in the US and of course we will be concerned for the safety of our children, and that that raises anxiety levels.

“It’s important from school leaders’ point of view that we communicate clearly with the parents,” Crone added.

A spokesperson from the department has since said it has a “critical incident management plan and training for schools” and that its “longstanding advice is to contact the emergency services where a threat or incident occurs”.

The department added that it liaises closely with gardaí and school management on these matters and that specific advice on today’s incident was provided to schools directly by the department this morning, having engaged with gardaí directly.

Meanwhile, other schools had a different experience this morning, because they did not immediately see the threatening message.

Crone said he knew of principals whose schools had missed the email because it went to spam or generic school emails, some of which are not regularly checked.

By the time the schools in question saw it, guidance had arrived, and they were able to continue as normal.

Crone said schools already had clear guidance for responding to other serious events, and needed similar instructions for threats of this kind.

“We have [guidelines] for weather warnings for schools, so schools are very clear on what to do in relation to serious weather events. The same is needed when schools get calls like this,” Crone said.

At a primary school in Celbridge, Co Kildare, parents were told “normal activities” had resumed following an evacuation.

A message shared with The Journal said the evacuation had been carried out “promptly and calmly”, with pupils and staff following established procedures.

“Staff responded in a very calm and professional manner, ensuring that the children were safe, settled and well-supported throughout,” the school told parents.

“We appreciate that this morning’s events may have caused some concern for parents, and we are grateful for your patience and understanding.”

Every pupil and member of staff left the school buildings during the evacuation this morning.

“A few parents took kids home as a precaution,” one parent told The Journal.

At least it wasn’t lashing when all the kids were standing out on the GAA pitch.

A parent at another Kildare school also described how the evacuation was presented to children as a fire drill, with gardaí subsequently attending to check the premises.

In guidance circulated to schools today, the Department of Education and Youth said gardaí had received several hundred calls and would liaise with each school in turn, warning that this could take time.

The department said it had spoken with gardaí at senior level and had been advised there was no need for schools to evacuate because the messages were generic email threats.

Schools could carry out a short precautionary search if they wished, the department said, although gardaí had advised this was unnecessary.

Schools that received the email were asked after the fact to contact 999 and follow garda advice.

Gardaí from the National Security Intelligence Service are involved in investigating the incidents.

Schools in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Italy also received threatening emails today.

The PSNI said it was conducting urgent inquiries, while Scottish police said the messages there were being treated as hoaxes.

The threats come less than a day before a European Political Community Summit takes place in Dublin’s Conference Centre, which will play host to a number of European and world leaders.